Hiring process might suck, and how to fix it

I recently read this post F*** You, I Quit — Hiring Is Broken found it interesting. If you have time – read it (and of course you should have, because this blog is far less famous than medium – the combination of page views for post in this blog is very likely to be much smaller than that single post).

I feel bad for the author for being in such situation – getting rejected 5 times in a row, is a hard thing to swallow. Especially when he is considered famous in developer’s world/ and has big passion in coding. And it’s not the first time, we hear someone rants about the hiring process, and it’s very unlikely to be the last. Let’s agree that the hiring process for developers might suck.

But then, it’s the way it works.

The first time no offer given, it’s probably their fault. The second time no offer given, it’s probably a bad luck. The third time no offer given, it’s probably your fault.

Then how to fix it then?

Research about the company

We are not fresh out of collage, or bootcamp. It does not make sense to just send CV after CV to just any job vacancy appear. We need to be picky – by researching about the company. This is why websites like Grassdoor exists.

Recruiting is not a one way process. The company might choose you, but you might also choose the company as well. Unless you are going to land to your dream job at a company you like, most of us will apply or get offers from a less-known company.

Actively ask the recruiter

Ask the headhunter/recruiter about the interviewing process – you might not be able to change that, but at least you can decide to walk away if you feel uncomfortable. Before you agree to come to an interview, you are free, and should, ask the recruiter about the interview. Is it one-to-one, or many-to-one interview, who will be there, what topics will be discussed.

Prepare yourself.

If you decide to continue, you know what you are going to go through.

Or build up your reputation, so they won’t have to go through the annoying interview questions, or even whiteboard solutions. They just want to hire you on-spot.

The truth is: the hiring process might suck, and some of the recruiters might be assh*les terrible, some companies might have ridiculous interviews and interviewers, but it’s life and it’s the way it works.

2 thoughts on “Hiring process might suck, and how to fix it”

I totally agree with you. Famous does not mean perfectly fit the role. I believe the author had realized or learned from this lesson.

Whenever i failed the interview, i never let myself down or rant, instead I tried my best to remember the parts wasn’t done well, and make sure this won’t happen in the next interview, though the similar questions never shown again in the next interview 🙁

> but it’s life and it’s the way it works. Either you fit in, or you get no offer

No, its not how it work. The world is a big place and there are reasonable companies that are not rejecting candidates for completely inadequate reasons. You don’t have to “fit in” into such madness. I think hiring needs more transparency and publicity to help companies with right processes get right candidates, and help everyone else point out and get rid of wrong hiring practices.

The author of mentioned article doesn’t complain that it doesn’t work for him, but that it doesn’t work for anyone. Asking questions irrelevant for the job is not in the candidate interest, nor the company, nor anyone else involved.